Machine for opening, scutching and similarly treating cotton and other fibrous materials



July 21, 1931. Q SCHOFIELD 1,815,593

MACHINE FOR OPENING, SCUTCHING, AND SIMILARLY TREATING COTTON AND OTHERFIBROUS IATERIALS Filed Nov. 8. 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 n INVfA/TORCharles Schofield C. SCHOFIELD MACHINE FOR OPENING, SCUTCHING, ANDSIMILARLY July 21, 1931. 1,815,593

TREATING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS Filed Nov. 8, 1930 3Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Char/es Schofield by M-aim- July.2l, 1931. c;SCHOFIELD 1,815,593

MACHINE FOR OPENING, SCUTCHING, AND SIMILARLY TREATING COTTON AND OTHERFIBROUS MATERIALS Filed Nov. 8. 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 mvnvroR C/m r/esSchoficld Patented July 21, 1931 came STATES PATENT OFFICE CHARLESECHGFIELD, OF BOLTON, ENGLAND, .ASSIGNOR TO DOBSON AND HARLOW LIMITEIADIBOLTON, ENGLAND, A BBITISH COMPANY MACHINE OPlilNINE-l, SCUTCHING ANDSIMILARLY TREATING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS Application filedNovember 8, 1930, Serial No. 494,406, and in Gr at Britain November 25,1929.

This invention relates to machines for opening, scutching or similarlytreating cotton and other fibrous materials. The chief object of theinvention is to provide means whereby such operations may be performedmore efficiently.

In British patent specification No. 126160 there is described a machinein which fibrous material is delivered to an opener by means of asuction cleaning device comprising a rotatable perforated cylinder on tothe periphcry of which the material is drawn evenly by suction producedin a slotted pipe arranged within said cylinder, solid impurities in thematerial being drawn through the perforations in the cylinder and soaway to a dirt chamber. 7

According to the primary feature of the present invention there isprovided in a machine for opening, scutching and similarly treatingfibrous material a conveyor on to which the material is fed and by whichthe latter is conveyed and subjected to treatment while on saidconveyor, and, according to the direction. of movement of the conveyor,

is delivered thereby to one of two flufling, separating or other devices(e. g. rotary beaters) arranged in series for further treating thematerial, one of which devices is by passed if the material is delivereddirectly to the other of said devices. The conveyor may be soconstructed and arranged that when it delivers material to one of thefluffing, separating or other devices it acts also to convey materialfrom that device towards the other of said devices.

Alternatively, a second conveyor maybe interposed between the twofluffing, separating or other devices. One or both of the con- 'veyorsaroresald may comprise airotatable perforated cylinder on to theperiphery of which the material is fed, and a suction de vicecommunicating with the interior of the cylinder as described forinstance in the aforementioned British specification No. 126,160.

This invention also provides in a machine for opening, scutchin'g andsimilarly treating fibrous material the combination in. se-

ries of a suction cleaning device comprising a rotatable perforatedcylinder the interior of which is placed under suction (e. g. by a fan)and two porcupine cylinders for fluffing or separating the fibrousmaterial, characterized in that the perforated cylinder of thecleaningdevice is adapted to deliver the materialalternatively to eitherof the porcupine cylinders and is reversible, so that by the rotation ofthe perforated cylinder in one direction the material is passed throughthe first porcupine cylinder and thence to the second Porcupine cylinderor by the rotation of. the perforated cylinder in the reverse directionthe material is by-passed to the second porcupine cylinder, with orwithout a second suction cleaning device arranged between thetwoporcupine cylinders.

Two constructions according to the invention will nowbe described indetail, by way of example, withreference to the accompanying drawings inwhich Figure 1 is a diagrammatic longitudinal section of oneconstruction;

Figure 2 is a similar view showing amodification;

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic elevation showing the reversing gear andinterlocking .mechanism hereinafter referred to, and

Figure 4 is a similar view but with the parts in different positionsfrom that shown in Figure 3.

Like reference numerals parts throughout the drawings.

Referring first to the construction shown in Figure 1, the fleecymaterial, in this instance, raw cotton, is delivered down a trunk 10from the mixing room to a suction cleaning device 11. This devicecomprises a rotatable perforated horizontal cylinder 12 constituting theconveyor aforesaid within which a slotted pipe 18 extends axially ofsaid cylinder, said pipe being connected to an exhaust fan 14. Thematerial is delivered from the trunk 10 to a chamber 15 and is laidevenly on the top part of the periphery of the cylinder 12 by thesuction within the pipe 7 13, solid foreign matter being drawn throughindicate like 7 means of any suitable ear, and at the lower end of thetrunk 10 ahinged delivery valve 16 is provided to control the directionof flow of the material from the trunk 10 in ac cordance with thedirection of rotation of the cylinder 12. Rotation of the cylinder 12 ina clockwise direction carries the material round to a pair of cagedelivery rollers 17, one of which rollers is in close proximity to theperiphery of the cylinder. These rollers strip o'li the layer of iieecymaterial and de liver it between them down a short chute 18 to a pair ofeed rollers 19 which pass it to a porcupine cylinder or a rotary beater20, On each side of the trunk 10 above the valve 16 is arranged anadjustable air inlet 21, for in stance of the hit-and-miss type, bymeans of which the amount of air admitted can be regulated until thecotton passes through the cage delivery rollers 17 in an even fleece.

The rotary beater 20 is arranged horizontally and comprises a rotatablecylinder 22 which has on its periphery a number of radial eel blades 28,and a cylindrical casing, a substantial portion (approximately 290) ofthe periphery of which casing is composed of a number of separate dustbars 24 which are substantially triangular-shaped and extendlongitudinally of the cylinder. The cyl nder 2 rotates in a clockwisedirection with the blades 23 in close proximity to the dust bars 24. Thematerial having been carried round in the small gap between said bladesand bars is delivered from the beater 20 to a passage 25 and thence tothe underside of the perforated cylinder 12 which carries the materialto a second pair of cage delivery rollers 26, one of which is in closeproximity to the periphery of the cylinder 12. The pipe 13 is providedwith slots 27, 28 to permit the suction in said pipe to act uponmaterial which is laid on the top and bottom of the cylinder l2respectively. From the cage delivery rollers 26 the material is passedto a second pair of feed rollers 29 which deliver material to aporcupine cylinder or rotary beater 80 of the same general constructionthe beater 20. The beater 30 also rotates in a clockwise direction anddelivers the material along a passage 31 whence it passes into the nipbetween two perforated cages 32, 33, the interiors of which aresubjected to the action of a dust fan 34. From the nip between saidcages the material is fed between a pair of cage rollers 35 to a pair ofbeater feed rollers 36 and thence into a beater 37 somewhat similar tothe heaters 20 and 30 but in which the rotating portion comprises anumber of longitudinal blades 38 each supported on a plurality of radialarms 39. After passing through this beater the fleece is conductedbetween the nip of a seconn pair of perforated cages 40, 41 at whichstation any foreign matter remaining in the material is sucked throughthe perforations into the interior of said cages by a dust fan 42.Thence the fleece is passed through calendar rollers 43 and fluted laprollers 44 and then wound.

Rotation of the perforated cylinder 12 in an anti-clockwise directioncarries the material round to a pair of cage delivery rollers 45,similar to the rollers 17 and whereof one is in close proximity to theperiphery of said cylinder. The rollers 45 strip 01f the material fromthe cylinder 12 and deliver the material passing between them to thefeed rollers 29. A hinged delivery plate 46 is provided on the inletside of the feed rollers 29 to control the delivery from the rollers 26and 45.

In the construction shown in Figure 2, a second conveyor is interposedbetween the heaters 20, 30 which constitute the finding, separating orother devices hereinbefore referred to. From the beater 20 the materiali delivered to a second suction cleaning device 47 of a similarconstruction to the cleaning device 11. While on the perforated cylinder48, which is rotated in an anti-clockwise direction, the material issubjected to a further cleaning operation and is conveyed by saidcylinder to between a pair of cage delivery rollers 49, one of which isin close proximity to the cylinder 48. From said delivery roliers thematerial passes to the feed rollers 29 whereby it is delivered to therotary beater 30. It will be understood that the cleaning device 47comprises a slotted pipe 13 the interior of which is in communicationwith the exhaust fan 14. The ineffective area on the underside of theperforated evlinder 48 is enclosed by a shield 50 a portion of whichshield may be movable or removable to give access to the cylinder.

The mechanism described above is totally enclosed within a casing fromwhich dust which, for example, passes between the dust bars of thevarious rotary beaters is evacuated by fans.

It will be appreciated that after leaving the beater 30 the material maybe subjected to any treatment desired. For instance, instead of passingthrough the various ClGVlCG-l hereinbefore described the material havingpassed through. the nip between the perforated cages 32, 33 may beconveyed by a feed lattice or pneumatically to a large rotary beatersomewhat similar to the beater 20. From this beater the material may bepa... d to a second pair of perforated cages. thence to a further beaterhaving a number of longitudinal blades such as 38, or to another rotarybeater similar to the beater 20 or 30. and to a third pair of perforatedcages, and finally to the calender rollers 43.

If desired in each suction cleaning device a shield may be provided toblank off that portion of the perforated cylinder in the vicinity of thecage delivery rollers from the suction ofthe fan, so that these rollerswill readily strip the material from the periphery of the cylinder. 1

Any suitable reversing gear for the orn veyor (e. g. the cylinder 12)and interlocking mechanism between said gear and the adjustable devices(e. g; the valve- 16 and the hinged delivery plate l6) may be providedfor controlling the direction of flow of the material through themachine. or a part thereof, to ensure that the saidflow-direction-controlling devices will be adjusted in accordance withthe directionof movement of the conveyor. V

A suitable reversing gear and interlocking mechanism is showndiagrammatically in Figures 3 and 4 but it is to be understood that thismay be modified considerably.

hen the perforated cylinder 12 isrotating in an anti-clockwise directionas seen in Figure 1 it is driven from a gear wheel 51 on a shaft 52on-which one of the feed rollers 29 is mounted. This shaft is rotatedfrom any suitable source of power by any convenient means. The wheel 51then meshes with one portion of a compound gear wheel 53 secured to astud 54 on a two-armed lever 59. The compound gear wheel 53 comprisestwo separate wheels mounted to rotate as a unit. One portion of thecompound Wheel 53drives a toothed wheel 55 fixed to a shaft 56 whichcarries the perforated cylinder 12, and the other portion meshes with agear wheel 57 on a shaft 58 carrying one of the cage deliv- 7 my rollersd5. One arm of the lever 59 is rotatably mounted about the axis of theshaft 56, and the other arm carries a reversing gear wheel 61 which isalso in mesh with the compound gcar wheel 53. The stud 54 is mount edfor sliding movement in an arcuate slot 62 which is provided in anyconvenient part of the frame of the machine and is struck from the axisof the shaft 56 as a centre. The

arm of the lever 59 which is rotatably mounted about the shaft 56 isoperatively connected by an extension 63 of the lever 59, a link 64 anda valve lever 65 to the spindle 66 of the valve 16. The said spindle isalso operatively connected by an extension 67 of the valve lever 65, alink 68 and a lever 69 to the spindle 70 of the deflecting plate 46.

When the cylinder 12 is rotating in an anti-clockwise direction theparts described above occupy the positions shown in Figure 3. In orderto reverse the direct-ion of rotation of the cylinder 12, the lever 59is swung about the axis of the shaft 56 by means of an operating handle60. This action brings the compound gear wheel. 53 out of engagementwith the wheel 51 and also out of engagementwith the wheel 57 by whichthe rollers 45 are driven, thus stopping these rollers during such timeas they are not required to function. At the same time the reversingwheel 61 is brought into engagement with the wheel 51 so that thecylinder 12 isthen rotated in a clockwise direction. Simultaneously bythe linkages described, the valve 16 and the deflecting plate 46 aremoved to the positions shown in Figure 4.

It will be obvious that the parts 63, 64, 65 may be arranged on one sideof the machine and the parts 67, 68, 69 on the other side or both on oneside of the machine as may be convenient.

It is to be understood that the above strnctions are described only byway of example, and that the invention is not restricted to the preciseconstructional details set forth herein, nor to the particular plantdescribed.

I claim 2- v 1. In a machine for opening, scutching or similarlytreating fibrous materials, a conveyor on to which the material is fedand by which it is conveyed and subjected to treatment while on saidconveyor, means for reversing the direction of movement of the conveyor,and a plurality of devices arranged in series for further treating thematerial, to one or another of which devices the material is deliveredby the conveyor according to the direction of its movement so that oneat least of the material-treating devices is bypassed if the material isdelivered directly to another of said devices.

2. In a machine for opening, scutching or rial is fed and subjected totreatment while on said conveyor, means for reversing the di rection ofmovement of the conveyonand two devices for further treating thematerial to the one or the other of which devices the marial isdelivered by the conveyor according to the direction of its movement,which conveyor is so constructed and arranged relatively to thematerial-treating devices that, when it delivers material to one of saiddevices, it acts to convey material from that device towards the otherof those devices.

3. In a machine for opening, scutching or similarly treating fibrousmaterials, the combination of a conveyor on to which the material is fedand by which it is conveyed and subjected to treatment while'on saidconveyor, means for reversing the direction of movement of the conveyor,two devices for further treating the material to the one or the other ofwhich devices the material is delivered according to the directionofmovement of said conveyor, and a second conveyor arranged between thematerial-treating devices for transferring material from one to theother of said devices. 7

. 4. In a machine for opening, scutching or similarly treating fibrousmaterial, the com- 'bination of a rotatable cylinder on to the peripheryof which the material is fed, means for reversing the direction ofrotation of that cylinder, two rotary heaters to the one or the other ofwhich beaters the material is de livered by the rotatable cylinderaccording to the direction in which it is rotated, and means forconveyin material from one to the other of the heaters.

5. In a machine for opening, scutching or similarly treating fibrousmaterials, the com bination of a rotatable perforated cylinder on towhich the fibrous material is fed, means for reversing the direction ofrotation of said cylinder, a suction device communicating with theinterior of the perforated cylinder, and a plurality of devices arrangedin series for further treating the material, to one or another of whichdevices the material is delivered by the perforated cylinder accordingto the direction of its rotation so that one at least of thematerial-treating devices is lay-passed if the material is delivereddirectly to another of said devices.

6. In a machine for opening, scutching or similarly treating fibrousmaterials, the combination of a suction cleaning device for the fibrousmaterial comprising a rotatable perforated cylinder constituting aconveyor on to which the material is fed and an exhaust fancommunicating with the interior of the cylinder whereby it can be placedunder suction, two porcupine cylinders for flufling or separating thefibrous material, means for reversing the direction of rotation of theperforated cylinder to allow it to deliver material alternatively toeither of the porcupine cylinders, and means for feeding material fromone to the other of the porcupine cylinders, which perforated cylinderand porcupine cylinders are so arranged that when the perforatedcylinder is rotated in one direction the material is passed through oneporcupine cylinder and thence to the other por cupine cylinder and whenthe perforated cyl inder is rotated in the reverse direction thematerial is delivered directly to the said other porcupine cylinder.

7. In a machine for opening, scutching or similarly treating fibrousmaterials, a suction cleaning device part of which constitutes aconveyor on to which the fibrous material is fed, means for reversingthe direction of movement of said conveyor, two devices for furthertreating the material arranged in such positions relatively to saidconveyor that by reversing the direction of movement of the conveyormaterial can be delivered alternatively to either of saidmaterial-treating devices, and a second suction cleaning device arrangedbetween the said two material-treating devices and comprising a conveyorwhereby fibrous material can be conveyed from one towards the other ofthe said material-treating devices.

8. In a machine for opening, scutching or similarly treating fibrousmaterial, a conveyor on towhich the material is fed, a re versing gearfor changing the direction of terial can be delivered to themalternatively according to the direction of movement of the conveyor, anadjustable device for controlling the direction of the flow of thematerial in the machine, and interlocking mechanism arranged to beactuated by thev operation of said reversing gear for automaticallyadjusting the flow-direction-controlling device in accordance with thedirection of movement of the conveyor.

9. In a machine for opening, scutching or similarly treating fibrousmaterials, a rotatable conveyor on to which the material is fed, areversing gear for changing the direction of rotation'of the conveyor, aplurality of devices arranged in series for successively treating thematerial, to two of which devices the material can be deliveredalternatively by the conveyor depending upon its direction of rotation,a feed trunk through which the material is supplied to the con veyor, ahinged delivery plate at the outlet end of said trunk for directing thematerial to that side of the conveyor which is travelling away from thetrunk, two channels through which material passes respectively from theconveyor and one of the materialtreating devices to another of saiddevices, a second hinged delivery plate arranged to control said twochannels, and interlocking mechanism operatively connected to the reversing gear and to each of said hinged plates for automaticallyadjusting them in accordance with the direction of flow of the materialas determined by the direction of rotation of the conveyor.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

CHARLES SCI'IOFIELD.

